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The Battle of Terracore - Backstory
Welcome back to Meregaer! 35 years have passed since heroes such as you have walked these lands. It's an awesome honor to stand with people I know from stories my parents told me as a youngster. Your deeds of valor and sacrifice in those days brought us a time of relative peace and security, but that is about to change. The heart of the entire world is imperiled, and this is why you have been summoned back. You will have many questions about your role in what is ahead. Let me try to give you some background first. You need to understand that this plane of existence, which we so self-indulgently term the "Prime Material," is administered by a Council of 16 custodians. This body is the ultimate authority over inter-planar matters. If some force, internal or external, threatens the structure and integrity of the plane, it's up to the Council of 16 to put it down. Council membership is not an enviable position, from my point of view. It's the sort of responsibility that weighs one down. It does have its perks, though, and some see it as a means to an end. I'll return to that. Originally, the 16 seats were held by the founders of the Prime Material, super-powerful beings that we sometimes refer to as the Elder Gods. (That term is not entirely accurate, but never mind.) The Elder Gods were deposed more than 100,000 years ago in a struggle called the Cataclysm of the Planes. The Elder Gods cannot be destroyed utterly, but they were rendered powerless indefinitely. The Cataclysm was exactly the sort of event that the Council was put into place to prevent. It was a time of incredible upheaval. Many of the rules changed at this time. The world as we know it is as we know it largely because of the Cataclysm. Things we take for granted, like… astral travel or the ability to call on the aid of celestial powers were not possible before. But let's not go into metaphysics right now, or try to cover 100,000 years of incredibly turbulent history. It's enough to know that the beings who defeated the Elder Gods could not do away with the 16 seats. Instead, the seats came to be occupied by lesser natives of the plane, even mere humanoids like you and me. It's worth pointing out, also, that not just anyone who knows a few spells or can swing a sword is eligible to sit on the Council. Rules have been introduced, over the millennia, to prevent the kind of disaster that can result from accident or incompetence. Council seats are only filled when a vacancy is created, and a majority of the existing council must approve new members. Generally, only rulers of very large kingdoms are accepted. One also has to demonstrate longevity, as the Council doesn't care to be bothered with new members that kick off after just a few decades. 40 years ago there were 15 long-standing Council members. These included the human rulers of each of the Five Kingdoms of Midland: Hal Iatha, Himudel, Arvenoi, Irrua, and Bouletov. The non-human realms at the time were Sylvania; the Kingdoms of the North, South, East, and West Winds; Abussos; the Underdark; the Drow Vault; and Orcish Zotolan and Yuan-ti Zotolan. The vacancy had existed for a few years, and there was no one with a claim that was even close to being considered, until your old friend Albenor of Aomer spoke up for it. Al the half-elf, half-fiend saw a Council seat as the ultimate ego trip, as well as a way to shore up his power over the extra-planar portions of his domain, especially the Plane of Shadow. His petition was rejected, initially. His kingdom of Aomer was strong, but just didn't measure up to an Irrua or a Bouletov. His claim of dominion over all of Meregaer was a joke, but - and here's what sparked the firestorm - in the proceedings of the council, it became pretty clear that actual rulership over all of Meregaer would satisfy the rulership aspect of the eligibility question. So Albenor went home and started to gather up his forces for an all-out conquest of Meregaer. Left alone, he would have had a good chance of accomplishing his goal. He was not left alone, as you know. Many of you took part in the events I'm about to describe, but you've probably never heard them from a historical point of view before. No one could have anticipated the return of the Elder Gods. The immortal, indestructible remains of the Elder Gods show up throughout history as powerful artifacts wielded by individuals... who usually come to spectacular ends. But in your time, two of the Elders actually returned to life: first Vandel, Queen of the Stars, and then her sister Selene, Queen of the Moon. Vandel was stirred back to life by the elves of Starvault. Although immaterial, she worked quietly behind the scenes to cripple Aomer and restore her sister. But the first overt challenge to Albenor was from a guy from Himudel named Jarlip Frakerik, who you remember as the Warlord. He was an explorer who had stumbled on a powerful talisman that turned out to be the remains of Ymman, greatest of all of the Elder Gods. Was it mere coincidence that the Talisman of Ymman turned up at just this time? Unlikely, but we may never understand exactly how it happened. Jarlip mastered the Talisman and used its power to attempt to take over Meregaer. He seized the city-states and embroiled Albenor and his kingdom in war for years. Then the fleet of the Tovarish Emperor arrived, and soon Albenor was holding off two enemies. The Tovarish Empire, which lies some distance to the north of Bouletov, had been growing in strength for many years but fell far short of the stature of any of the Five Kingdoms. The emperor had bought the concept of Meregaer as a path to power. You know how it all turned out. The Warlord could not maintain a grip on the city-states of Meregaer, much less defeat Aomer, and eventually withdrew. Vandel, with some help from my dad, pulled off a masterful deceit that in one stroke restored Selene to life and put Albenor down, hard. Al would spend the rest of his years trying to stave off death. A Council seat for him was out of the question. Meanwhile, the Tovars obliterated Aomer's navy, but their Emperor was assassinated, probably by agents of Aomer. The Tovar invaders lost their direction. Some returned home; a few remained to establish a small colony on Ammon. Vandel and Selene began to plot their mutual ascension to the Council, but they were interrupted by another would-be conqueror, rising out of Aomer following Albenor's defeat. A previously unknown fighter who called himself Red Hand seized control of several of Aomer's frontier castles. He launched their combined forces on an all-out attack on Starvault, and Vandel was a casualty. These events fit a pattern that my father had been watching for for several years, and he grew to suspect that Red Hand was being controlled by a past adversary, that ancient evil, The Worm -- The Spawn of Kutaro. This turned out to be the case, and he directed all of his powers toward putting an end to the threat. Dealing with an enemy that could take over his mind if he revealed himself was a difficult task, and he would not have been successful without the help of some of the people standing with me right now. The Worm was destroyed. Red Hand's source of power was cut off. Albenor was dying; his kingdom was shattered; his lieutenants were clutching fragments. The Warlord had withdrawn. The Tovar were no longer a threat. Vandel had spent all of her energy preserving Starvault against the attack of Red Hand. Her consciousness dissipated; only her immortal core remained, in the form of a crystalline crown. The elf princess Erestriel Snowmane took up the Crown of Vandel and rose as leader of the elves. Over the next several years, Erestriel would take on more and more of the aspect and power of Vandel, but at the start, she was happy to be a source of hope and inspiration for the elves. Selene asserted her guardianship over all of the people of Meregaer, and there were none left to oppose her rule. She took the vacant Council seat a year after the fall of Red Hand. Her first act was to gain Council approval to create a Moon Gate, a magic portal that enables people to travel between Meregaer and Irrua during times of the full moon. (Did you know that the elves and humans who colonized Meregaer came from Irrua? Never mind.) Meregaer now had a single, benevolent ruler, and the benefit of commerce with other lands for the first time since it was colonized 1500 years ago. Five years later, Selene and the rulers of the Five Kingdoms conspired to end the rule of the vile Yuan-ti Imperatrix of Zotolan. Selene then handed her title of Guardian of Meregaer over to Erestriel Snowmane, who went on to claim the Council Seat left by that snaky sorceress. Erestriel is the current sovereign of Meregaer. Selene retains her seat but has retreated to the far-off Realm of the Moon, and from what I have heard, works to restore it to the glory of the elder days. There has been one other change in the Council. Ten years ago, the new Tovarish Emperor, Nogras, allied himself with the forces of the Underdark to take on the godlike Empress Lolitha of the Dark Elves. Nogras slew Lolitha, greatly impressing the Five Kingdoms, and he went on to win her seat on the Council. It's worth noting that King Bor of the dwarves played a strong supporting role in that victory. Bor and his Tovarish friends on Ammon are a constant worry for Princess Erestriel. Which brings us to the current crisis. Last year, the Titan Lord Nereus of Abussos, who has sat on the Council for more than 10 millennia, suddenly stepped down. His undersea empire has been in decline for the past several centuries, and perhaps he feared the sort of violence that characterized the last three ascensions to the Council. Once again we have a vacant seat. There are a couple of decent contenders for the seat. Rather than let the seat be filled in the usual way, however, six of the Council are insisting that the Council is obsolete. They are saying that it's time to dissolve the Council and replace it with a new body that would take a more active role in leading the peoples of the Prime Material. Let's call them the Revolutionaries, just to keep things straight. The Revolutionaries include the Tovarish Emperor Nogras, his buddy El Ag of the Underdark, Queen Genet of Irrua, Lord Guth of Bouletov, the Patron of Himudel, and King Jarvan of Arvenoi - four of the Five Kingdoms. As for the rest of the Council, four of the members stand firmly against this change. Let's call them the Establishmentarians: Selene, Erestrial Snowmane, Emir Osyman of Hal Iatha, and Orlock of Sylvania. (Yes, that's the same Orlock that has a temple in Meregaer. Small plane, isn't it? I'll explain that later.) The remaining Council members seem to be neutral. Some of you are probably thinking "So what?" or even that the Revolutionaries might have a point. The Council may be a stagnant system in need of a good airing out. Change is good, right? But there are a few strong arguments against change in this case. One is that it is a matter of inter-planar stability. The Revolutionaries cannot guarantee that by messing with the system, they don't bring about another Cataclysm of the Planes! Nothing is worth that risk. Second, the Elders meant for the Council to be an administrative body, not a government. The Council preserves the integrity of the world for the good of all. It's not a path for power-seekers, despite what some have tried in the past. Governments, on the other hand, can become corrupt. Third, Selene and Vandel - er, Erestriel - are among the Establishmentarians. They have always had the best interest of Meregaer at heart. There's even more to it than that. I support Meregaer and her Guardian, and I respect Selene and all she has done, but none of this would motivate me personally, except for the discovery that several of Albenor's old lieutenants are helping the Revolutionaries. You must remember Queen Invilidna'a and Sairud, the Black Man, Albenor's old security chief. I don't like to play politics, but when those Aomer people are involved, someone wise to their ways has to keep an eye on them. Nothing they have their hands in can possibly be good for the world. I have no quarrel with any of the Five Kingdoms. They represent the fruit of civilization, examples of what humans and elves and other intelligent, good races can accomplish. But notice that they have acted as a single unit for more than a millennium, and that they are now divided over this issue. Something stinks, and it's spelled A-O-M-E-R. The Revolutionaries are about to make their move. The Establishmentarians are gathering forces for the defense. That's you.